Halloween just came to India wrapped in luxury, thanks to Gauri Khan & Imtiaz Khatri, Founder of VVIP Universal Entertainment. The latter has designed the plush interiors for the “one-night-only” Halloween party tonight hosted with London’s exclusive, circus-themed nightclub Cirque Le Soir at Taj Lands End, Mumbai.
6 of Cirque le Soir’s performers have been specially flown down to India to attend the parties, and the guests will witness interesting acts such as fire-eaters, dwarves, magicians, clowns, sword-swallowers and stilt walkers.
As you might have guessed already, the star cast is, well, starry! Gauri & Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor, Manish Malhotra and many others will be present.
In a tête-à-tête with the man who made it all possible, Imtiaz Khatri, we try and get a closer look at the Indian version of the world’s most popular & acclaimed clubs.
Team MM: What inspired you to organise something like this in Mumbai?
Imtiaz: Since it opened in 2009, Cirque Le Soir has evolved into one of the world’s most fashionable and successful clubs in the world attracting a galaxy of stars including Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry etc. At VVIP Universal Entertainment, it is our aim to bring such distinguished experiences to audiences.
Team MM: What should we expect to see this October 27 – a circus-themed plush nightclub with burlesque snake charmers, fire eaters & the works?
Imtiaz: Gauri Khan is designing the interiors. The sets are dramatic and very lavish in Cirque Le Soir’s decadent style and because it’s halloween themed, there’s heaven and hell and everything in between. Eerie ruins, angels and demons… the decor maintains the balance of the sublime and sinful throughout. It’s stunning!
Team MM: Cirque Le Soir in London has an extravagant dress code and strict door policies. Is everything being replicated here or you are improvising?
Imtiaz: There are no tickets being sold at the gate – it’s by invitation and guest list only.
Team MM: What is your favourite bit from the original which you will definitely replicate here?
Imtiaz: Cirque gives its guests a very unique circus experience including live performances from dwarves, magicians, clowns, sword-swallowers, fire-eaters, burlesque angle grinders to snake charmers, contortionists and stilt walkers, etc. We have 6 performers from Cirque here at the event and that is certainly another highlight.A night out at Cirque Le Soir is like no other night out and with these sets, it will be memorable. You can expect the unexpected here!
Team MM: It’s also famous for being a favourite hangout joint for celebs like Usher, Lady Gaga, Lindsay Lohan, David Guetta, Black Eyed Peas, Scarlett Johansson & Leonardo Di Caprio to name but a few. A majority of Bollywood stars will be showing up that night?
Imtiaz: Don’t want to give it all away yet, but you can expect a lot of distinct themes bringing alive the magic of fantasy with our friends.
Speaking about the event, Gauri said:
It’s Halloween so the heaven and hell theme runs through the entire set. There are doves and there are bats, bleeding demons and winged angels. And the lighting changes to create entire set up was a perfect balance of sublime and sinful throughout.
Wow! This is going to one helluva night!